Post by zaval80 on Apr 4, 2024 21:47:48 GMT
In my first post I've mentioned that, although Vince Treanor's memoir is the best overall source on the chronology of WFTS and COTL, it's kinda frustrating. I think the specific examples must be given.
So:
14.01.1968 (Sunday!!!), first day at Sunset Sound. "Unfortunately the most important piece, COTL, did not turn out well. It was not yet organized. Much work still had to be done for the content and development of the entire piece." (No other titles are mentioned. Paul R. is supposed to produce from the description by Vince.)
Further description, seemingly for 14.01.1968: "Paul was not at all satisfied with COTL. Efforts to record it were abandoned." (SC was decided on; basic track is recorded.)
15.01.1968: vocals for SC.
16.-17.01.1968 - rehearsals. 18.01.1968 - day off (the band liked to rest the day before shows). 19-20.01.1968 - West covina shows.
21.01.1968. "Next day was back to a stretch of intense rehearsals. Recording time was gettung close."
(BTW, Vince mentions Asher Dann as firmly in control of the proceedings as late as 16.01.1968.)
23.01.1968, Bill Siddons to Vince: "The band will be going in the studio in about 3 weeks." Vince says, it must be the time when the band decided to break with Sal and Ash.
Then: "We remained in rehearsal until February 8th."
9.02.1968 - rest day. 10.02.1968 - Berkeley shows. Vince mentions Jim reading COTL "which was still in the development stage"; "it was not complete".
12.02.1968 to 15.02.1968 - "there were rehearsals". "A lot of work to be done on COTL, to make it a complete poetic exercise."
17.02.1968 - Phoenix.
And then, wham bam, Chapter 25 - "ID Sound Recorders - COTL".
"Sometime in late 1967, a trial recording session was arranged by BB. The only purpose was to create a demo for Paul and to obtain some sense of how this piece should be arranged... Unfortunately the results were not satisfactory... a lot of work was necessary..."
Suppose this was indeed so, and Paul R. just wanted a preliminary result to get an idea of COTl state in time for 14.01. session.
19.02.1968 (Monday) - TTG at last. It's called by Vince as "the rehearsal". And then:
"This first session was used to play the entire piece so Paul could understand what they were trying to accomplish. Paul would listen to the 1967 demo. They would amend that. They carefully rehearsed each segment and arranged the music to suit the modified lyrics. Then they put the pieces in the order Jim felt they should take."
Huh???!!! This is namely what I've pointed at before. If the demo was from 1967, Paul R. had the opportunity to listen to it on the 14.01. session! no need to wait until 19.02! lots of time to make a confection out of COTL in the raw demo state!
20.02.1968 - they record several takes of "the final version of what the finished opera would sound like". Paul listens to them working "without much comment". Later, he plays the takes back and selects the best performances for each sestion. A new master is made from this composite tape. And after listening to that composite tape, Paul rejects COTL "on the album". He "suggested that more work had to be done..." and that some segments were interesting, esp. NTTTE ("outstanding"). Paul decides to record such sections as individual songs. Jim becomes upset.
Then Vince talks about the "March" (not named by him as such) session. It's not clear on which day it was, and one could be excused to think from Vince's chronology it happened over the weekend, 24-25.02.1968 - but The Doors did not like working on weekends as a rule. The 26.02.1968 session is described as the "fresh start" after the second rejection of COTL.
So, that mysterious extra session:
"After days of attitude and dtunken behaviour (Jim was not interested in anything but COTL), they finally did record the entire COTL with all the movements intact...It also made Jim happier...but Paul rejected it once more, for the final time."
Then Vince talks about "poetry on the B side" and retolds the basics of the FTO story as in Gildstein's piece.
Some other sessions next to the mention of "the final COTL session" in Vince's book:
26.02.1968 - Jim does not come.
28.02 - another session. (We know now that was for NTTTE).
29.02 - John quits.
3.03. - "a rare Sunday session", John returns (Robby talked him out of his decision to quit), they do "Easy Ride".
So:
14.01.1968 (Sunday!!!), first day at Sunset Sound. "Unfortunately the most important piece, COTL, did not turn out well. It was not yet organized. Much work still had to be done for the content and development of the entire piece." (No other titles are mentioned. Paul R. is supposed to produce from the description by Vince.)
Further description, seemingly for 14.01.1968: "Paul was not at all satisfied with COTL. Efforts to record it were abandoned." (SC was decided on; basic track is recorded.)
15.01.1968: vocals for SC.
16.-17.01.1968 - rehearsals. 18.01.1968 - day off (the band liked to rest the day before shows). 19-20.01.1968 - West covina shows.
21.01.1968. "Next day was back to a stretch of intense rehearsals. Recording time was gettung close."
(BTW, Vince mentions Asher Dann as firmly in control of the proceedings as late as 16.01.1968.)
23.01.1968, Bill Siddons to Vince: "The band will be going in the studio in about 3 weeks." Vince says, it must be the time when the band decided to break with Sal and Ash.
Then: "We remained in rehearsal until February 8th."
9.02.1968 - rest day. 10.02.1968 - Berkeley shows. Vince mentions Jim reading COTL "which was still in the development stage"; "it was not complete".
12.02.1968 to 15.02.1968 - "there were rehearsals". "A lot of work to be done on COTL, to make it a complete poetic exercise."
17.02.1968 - Phoenix.
And then, wham bam, Chapter 25 - "ID Sound Recorders - COTL".
"Sometime in late 1967, a trial recording session was arranged by BB. The only purpose was to create a demo for Paul and to obtain some sense of how this piece should be arranged... Unfortunately the results were not satisfactory... a lot of work was necessary..."
Suppose this was indeed so, and Paul R. just wanted a preliminary result to get an idea of COTl state in time for 14.01. session.
19.02.1968 (Monday) - TTG at last. It's called by Vince as "the rehearsal". And then:
"This first session was used to play the entire piece so Paul could understand what they were trying to accomplish. Paul would listen to the 1967 demo. They would amend that. They carefully rehearsed each segment and arranged the music to suit the modified lyrics. Then they put the pieces in the order Jim felt they should take."
Huh???!!! This is namely what I've pointed at before. If the demo was from 1967, Paul R. had the opportunity to listen to it on the 14.01. session! no need to wait until 19.02! lots of time to make a confection out of COTL in the raw demo state!
20.02.1968 - they record several takes of "the final version of what the finished opera would sound like". Paul listens to them working "without much comment". Later, he plays the takes back and selects the best performances for each sestion. A new master is made from this composite tape. And after listening to that composite tape, Paul rejects COTL "on the album". He "suggested that more work had to be done..." and that some segments were interesting, esp. NTTTE ("outstanding"). Paul decides to record such sections as individual songs. Jim becomes upset.
Then Vince talks about the "March" (not named by him as such) session. It's not clear on which day it was, and one could be excused to think from Vince's chronology it happened over the weekend, 24-25.02.1968 - but The Doors did not like working on weekends as a rule. The 26.02.1968 session is described as the "fresh start" after the second rejection of COTL.
So, that mysterious extra session:
"After days of attitude and dtunken behaviour (Jim was not interested in anything but COTL), they finally did record the entire COTL with all the movements intact...It also made Jim happier...but Paul rejected it once more, for the final time."
Then Vince talks about "poetry on the B side" and retolds the basics of the FTO story as in Gildstein's piece.
Some other sessions next to the mention of "the final COTL session" in Vince's book:
26.02.1968 - Jim does not come.
28.02 - another session. (We know now that was for NTTTE).
29.02 - John quits.
3.03. - "a rare Sunday session", John returns (Robby talked him out of his decision to quit), they do "Easy Ride".